What SGMA Probation Means for Ag in Kings County

For many people, the word "probation" sounds like a warning—a heads-up that something needs to change. But under SGMA, probation isn’t a soft landing. It’s a hard shift. And the reality of what happens next can catch entire communities off guard.

What SGMA Probation Actually Triggers

In April 2024, the Tulare Lake Subbasin in Kings County was placed on probation by the State Water Board. This designation didn’t come with much fanfare, but the consequences were immediate and steep:

• Every groundwater user in the basin had to report their pumping.

  Most extractors were required to install meters.

• New fees went into effect: $300 per well, and $20 for every acre-foot of water pumped.

These stringent measures prompted the Kings County Farm Bureau to file a lawsuit against the State Water Board in May 2024, challenging the probation designation and associated fees as overreach. For operations already under pressure, these costs weren’t just frustrating—they were financially devastating.

Why It Caught So Many Off Guard

SGMA was written to prevent long-term harm. But when the solution arrives without enough time, local input, or practical support, it creates new harm in its place. What probation looks like on paper is very different from how it lands on the ground:

• Compliance becomes confusing.

• The rules keep shifting.

• The tone changes from collaboration to enforcement.

  
  

What It Looks Like in Real Life

The people navigating it aren’t sitting in policy meetings. They’re growers, landowners, small towns, and workers trying to adapt in real-time. They're figuring out how to register wells, pay the fees, and keep their operations going. They're the ones calling water districts and Farm Bureaus, asking, “What do I do next?”

And that’s where the real work begins—helping people understand what’s required, what’s possible, and how to make decisions that hold up over time. Not with panic. With strategy.

More Than Policy: A Personal Impact

Probation may be a regulatory tool. But for those living through it, it’s deeply personal. It touches everything:

• Financial decisions

• Planting schedules

• Family stress

• Employee hours

• Long-term planning

Where We Go From Here

SGMA will continue to evolve. More basins may face probation. What we do now—how we respond, listen, and lead—will shape whether this season becomes a breaking point or a turning point for California agriculture.

I'll see you at the table,

Julie Martella